Schedule management

Abstract

A method and system to assign a trial schedule of a plurality of trial schedules to a worker based on a worker ranking relative to other workers, and based on an order preference of the worker relating to a set of schedule abstractions, the set of schedule abstractions being respectively associated with the plurality of trial schedules.

1 . A method comprising: 
 assigning a trial schedule of a plurality of trial schedules to a worker based on a worker ranking relative to other workers, and based on an order preference of the worker relating to a set of schedule abstractions, the set of schedule abstractions being respectively associated with the plurality of trial schedules.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each schedule abstraction of the set of schedule abstractions includes at least one attribute selected from a group including type of work, start time range, number of working days, days off, days on, lunch time, break time, shift length, wage rate, and multiple work segments.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plurality of trial schedules are associated with a first schedule abstraction of the set of schedule abstractions, and further including assigning the trial schedule of the plurality of trial schedules to the worker of a plurality of workers based on a sequence of the trial schedule within the first schedule abstraction.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising receiving data defining the set of schedule abstractions.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising publishing an official schedule associated with the assigned trial schedule.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising receiving data defining each trial schedule.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising transitioning between a plurality of stages, wherein the plurality of stages includes a preparation stage to receive the data associating each of the set of schedule abstractions, an open stage to gather order preference data from the worker, a closed stage to close the open stage, an execution stage to assign one of the trial schedules to the worker, and a finalized stage where the trial schedule assignments are finalized.  
     
     
         8 . A machine-readable medium storing a sequence of instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of  claim 1 .  
     
     
         9 . A system comprising: 
 means for receiving data associating each of a set of schedule abstractions to a respective trial schedule of a plurality of trial schedules; and    means for assigning a trial schedule of the plurality of trial schedules to a worker based on a worker ranking relative to other workers, and based on an order preference of the worker relating to the set of schedule abstractions.    
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9  wherein each schedule abstraction of the set of schedule abstractions includes at least one attribute selected from a group including type of work, start time range, number of working days, days off, days on, lunch time, break time, shift length, wage rate, and multiple work segments.  
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the plurality of trial schedules are associated with a first schedule abstraction of the set of schedule abstractions, and further including means for assigning the trial schedule of the plurality of trial schedules to the worker of a plurality of workers based on a sequence of the trial schedule within the first schedule abstraction.  
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9  further comprising means for receiving data defining the set of schedule abstractions.  
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9  further comprising means for publishing an official schedule associated with the assigned trial schedule of the plurality of trial schedules.  
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9  further comprising means for receiving data defining each trial schedule of the plurality of trial schedules.  
     
     
         15 . A system comprising: 
 a shift bidding module to assign a trial schedule of a plurality of trial schedules to a worker based on a worker ranking relative to other workers, and based on an order preference of the worker relating to a set of schedule abstractions, the set of schedule abstractions being respectively associated with the plurality of trial schedules.    
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15  further comprising a publishing module to publish an official schedule associated with the assigned trial schedule of the plurality of trial schedules.  
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15  further comprising a schedule abstraction database to store the set of schedule abstractions, wherein each schedule abstraction includes at least one attribute selected from a group including type of work, start time range, number of working days, days off, days on, lunch time, break time, shift length, wage rate, and multiple work segments.  
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15  further comprising a database to define each trial schedule of the plurality of trial schedules.  
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15  wherein the plurality of trial schedules are associated with a first schedule abstraction of the set of schedule abstractions, the system further comprising a database including a sequence of the plurality of trial schedules within the first schedule abstraction, wherein the shift bidding module further is to assign the trial schedule of the plurality of trial schedules to the worker of a plurality of workers based on the sequence of the trial schedule within the first schedule abstraction.  
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15  further comprising a database to define the worker ranking.  
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 15  further comprising a database to define the order preference.